CHAN 2016: Morocco defeat Rwanda in final Group A fixture, but Rwanda progress to Quarter-finals at top of Group A. (24 Jan 2016).

Rwanda have secured their place in the quarter-finals, finishing top of Group A. In doing so they become the first Amavubi team to reach the last 8 of a major tournament.

At a rain soaked Amahoro stadium, Morocco came out looking to put on a strong performance, knowing that it would likely be their last match of the competition.

In contrast the Amavubi, who knew they had already won Group A after their second game (versus Gabon), chose to make 8 changes to their starting line up - allowing them to rest a number of players before their quarter-final appearance next weekend (Sat, 30 Jan).

The game, which had a number of good chances for both sides, finished 4-1 in Morocco's favour.

Post Match Interview

Speaking after the game Coach McKinstry explained his approach:

“Obviously, we are disappointed with the result today, but it was also important for us to also focus on our progression in the tournament as a whole"

"Having been the only team to win our group after just two games, we were in the unique and fortunate position today that, having already qualified top, we could rotate our squad."

"Tactically, this allowed us to rest a number of key players; to also ensure that others did not pick up any further yellow cards - which could have caused them to miss the quarter-final; and to give important competitive match time to a wider range of players in our squad"

Coach McKinstry noted that it was important to ensure that the whole squad was fully match ready if the Amavubi were to progress in the tournament.

"If we have to reach into our squad in the knock-out stages, it will be of great benefit to us that our wider squad has had competitive match time today."

"The result today will also have grounded the players - we made some basic mistakes. While the first goal that Morocco scored was an excellent goal, as I believe our goal was, the others were very preventable.”

Post-match interview with Coach McKinstry.

VIDEO: In this post-match interview (3:45), Coach McKinstry shares his approach to the game; his views on strengths and weaknesses displayed; and his initial thoughts looking ahead to the quarter-finals at the weekend.

Match Highlights

Photo Highlights

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Video Highlights

Match highlights (3 mins) courtesy of CAF TV

Media

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Quotes: What the media say

McKinstry made an impressive start, losing just one of his first six matches and leading Sierra Leone into the top 50 of Fifa's world rankings, above Northern Ireland, the Republic, Cameroon and Senegal.